It wasn’t enough that the government hit up the American taxpayers for $700 BILLION dollars to bail out poor investments and loans by bankers. It wasn’t enough that “we the people” had to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It isn’t enough that American Express is all of a sudden declaring itself a bank so it too can grab some of that free American tax money. It’s not enough that General Electric is asking for $139 BILLION in FDIC insurance. It’s not enough that the city of Detroit is asking for $10 BILLION in bailout money. Now, we have the Big Three auto makers asking the federal government to bail them out of the worst financial crisis of their existence. General Motors, Chrysler Corporation and Ford Motor Company all have their collective hands out wanting money from the federal trough. The fact there is no oversight committee handling this massive bailout of anyone that has a pulse is as worrisome as the bailout itself.

The Big Three auto makers have no one to blame but themselves for the shape they find themselves. If they would build a car that can equal in quality and MPG as Toyota, Honda, Americans would most certainly buy American first. However, The Big Three have only made faint attempts to improve quality of their products. I won’t go into the nightmare I had with my last two American made cars. But, the Big Three are dinosaurs. To paraphrase an old saying; they are dead but will walk around for hours until they realize it. Technology and the quality of the Japanese automakers have caught up with Detroit. Now, as with Chrysler in years past, they want the American taxpayer to bail them out of their mess. Whatever happened to a market economy? When did we decide to have the federal government play such a role with private companies? It is disheartening (but not surprising) that President-Elect Obama, who apparently is beside himself with anticipation to get into the White House, is pushing for a $50 BILLION bailout of the automakers.

This country’s greatness is due, in large part, to the entrepreneurship that Capitalism allows. Everyone has always to be as successful as they want in a Capitalist society. But, for some reason, the brakes have been released and we are hell bent toward Socialism. We are headed that way. “W” started this mess with his capitulation to the $700 Billion bailout that was supposed to save the economy. Now, we have a president in waiting who will push into an era we thought we would never see; an era of Socialism in the United States of America. “Come to the federal government…we will take care of you all.” An exaggeration? Perhaps. But, for the first time in my memory, we have a sitting U.S. President who has had to defend Capitalism. That’s nothing short of amazing.